Thirty years ago today Watford captain Wilf Rostron was harshly denied an appearance in the FA Cup final

A bittersweet victory was recorded over local rivals Luton Town in the first division game at Kenilworth Road.

Goals from Nigel Callaghan and Mo Johnston secured a 2-1 win but of greater significance was the harsh dismissal of Watford skipper Wilf Rostron by referee Roger Milford. The resulting suspension denied the left-back his cup final appearance.

Reproduced by kind permission of Matt Rowson from his book, Watford FC On This Day

Comments (8)

A huge disappointment for us all.A pattern had been
Set with the 2 previous FA cup finalists losing
Their captains for the final
We had Paul Elliot to thank for that and
Beyond that we had Dean Saunders to thank
For Paul Elliot

A huge disappointment for us all.A pattern had been
Set with the 2 previous FA cup finalists losing
Their captains for the final
We had Paul Elliot to thank for that and
Beyond that we had Dean Saunders to thank
For Paul ElliotStewartScullion

Made a big difference on the day - we missed Wilf and the young lad that stepped in did well but could not replace Wilf. Unfortunately for me I was living only one mile from Goodison Park at the time so there was nowhere to hide.

Made a big difference on the day - we missed Wilf and the young lad that stepped in did well but could not replace Wilf. Unfortunately for me I was living only one mile from Goodison Park at the time so there was nowhere to hide.northofwatfordpete

I remember this incident well, the tackle by Wilf was not worth a dismissal. At that time the perm haired Milford was a legend in his own mind and like a few referees today was trying to raise his credibility. He also awarded Liverpool a late and dubious penalty in extra time when Rush dived at a cup tie at the Vic.
Several seasons later I was sitting next to Milfords' wife when he was again ref at a home game and the faithful gave him a really big ear bashing when he walked onto the pitch, his wife turned to me and said that he(Milford) could not understand why the Watford supporters booed every time he officiated a game against Watford. Be assured I put her straight and she never spoke to me for the rest of the game!!!

I remember this incident well, the tackle by Wilf was not worth a dismissal. At that time the perm haired Milford was a legend in his own mind and like a few referees today was trying to raise his credibility. He also awarded Liverpool a late and dubious penalty in extra time when Rush dived at a cup tie at the Vic.
Several seasons later I was sitting next to Milfords' wife when he was again ref at a home game and the faithful gave him a really big ear bashing when he walked onto the pitch, his wife turned to me and said that he(Milford) could not understand why the Watford supporters booed every time he officiated a game against Watford. Be assured I put her straight and she never spoke to me for the rest of the game!!!ORBY

ORBY wrote:
I remember this incident well, the tackle by Wilf was not worth a dismissal. At that time the perm haired Milford was a legend in his own mind and like a few referees today was trying to raise his credibility. He also awarded Liverpool a late and dubious penalty in extra time when Rush dived at a cup tie at the Vic.
Several seasons later I was sitting next to Milfords' wife when he was again ref at a home game and the faithful gave him a really big ear bashing when he walked onto the pitch, his wife turned to me and said that he(Milford) could not understand why the Watford supporters booed every time he officiated a game against Watford. Be assured I put her straight and she never spoke to me for the rest of the game!!!

Well remembered ORBY, Wilf's sending off was a travesty. It's a good job Hornet's fans aren't prone to rioting like some others because Mr Milford made the atmosphere white hot that day. I'd love to know how many fans we had in the ground that day.

I love your story of Milford's wife aswell. Good on you.

[quote][p][bold]ORBY[/bold] wrote:
I remember this incident well, the tackle by Wilf was not worth a dismissal. At that time the perm haired Milford was a legend in his own mind and like a few referees today was trying to raise his credibility. He also awarded Liverpool a late and dubious penalty in extra time when Rush dived at a cup tie at the Vic.
Several seasons later I was sitting next to Milfords' wife when he was again ref at a home game and the faithful gave him a really big ear bashing when he walked onto the pitch, his wife turned to me and said that he(Milford) could not understand why the Watford supporters booed every time he officiated a game against Watford. Be assured I put her straight and she never spoke to me for the rest of the game!!![/p][/quote]Well remembered ORBY, Wilf's sending off was a travesty. It's a good job Hornet's fans aren't prone to rioting like some others because Mr Milford made the atmosphere white hot that day. I'd love to know how many fans we had in the ground that day.
I love your story of Milford's wife aswell. Good on you.MainStandShambles

Amazing to think of Neil Price, Lee Sinnott and Paul Atkinson all playing in a Wembley final...NP only made 25 appearances as a prof footballer and one of them was an FA cup final !

Amazing to think of Neil Price, Lee Sinnott and Paul Atkinson all playing in a Wembley final...NP only made 25 appearances as a prof footballer and one of them was an FA cup final !Mickey Quinn, not so thin

Mickey Quinn, not so thin wrote:
Amazing to think of Neil Price, Lee Sinnott and Paul Atkinson all playing in a Wembley final...NP only made 25 appearances as a prof footballer and one of them was an FA cup final !

agreed, some people are just in the right place at the right time. Not so much though for LS i think the jug-eared stopper did have a reasonable career in the end. Wilf's ban still annoys me though!

[quote][p][bold]Mickey Quinn, not so thin[/bold] wrote:
Amazing to think of Neil Price, Lee Sinnott and Paul Atkinson all playing in a Wembley final...NP only made 25 appearances as a prof footballer and one of them was an FA cup final ![/p][/quote]agreed, some people are just in the right place at the right time. Not so much though for LS i think the jug-eared stopper did have a reasonable career in the end. Wilf's ban still annoys me though!matey_from_brighton

ORBY wrote:
I remember this incident well, the tackle by Wilf was not worth a dismissal. At that time the perm haired Milford was a legend in his own mind and like a few referees today was trying to raise his credibility. He also awarded Liverpool a late and dubious penalty in extra time when Rush dived at a cup tie at the Vic.
Several seasons later I was sitting next to Milfords' wife when he was again ref at a home game and the faithful gave him a really big ear bashing when he walked onto the pitch, his wife turned to me and said that he(Milford) could not understand why the Watford supporters booed every time he officiated a game against Watford. Be assured I put her straight and she never spoke to me for the rest of the game!!!

Well remembered ORBY, Wilf's sending off was a travesty. It's a good job Hornet's fans aren't prone to rioting like some others because Mr Milford made the atmosphere white hot that day. I'd love to know how many fans we had in the ground that day.

I love your story of Milford's wife aswell. Good on you.

I was not at the game, but my understanding was Milford did not understand the rules. Neither player had done anything wrong and just got their legs tangled. Both tried to get up and got in each others way. As the mullet had booked Elliott he thought he had to even with a dismissal for both.
GT stood outside the refs rom for about half an hour after the game demanding Mullet man explain the decision and the logic. Milford failed to answer and just stayed in his room. Milford did not put anything about GT in his report as that would mean having to explain how it happened.
We no longer have P.E. and headmaster types as refs anymore, but we do have starry eyed refs like Milford who fail to ref objectively and suck up to people like Fergie to be in their good books.
It was the sucking up to Rushie that gave him a penalty and ultimately Scousers a double that season.
Mrs M you husband is a disgrace.

[quote][p][bold]MainStandShambles[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]ORBY[/bold] wrote:
I remember this incident well, the tackle by Wilf was not worth a dismissal. At that time the perm haired Milford was a legend in his own mind and like a few referees today was trying to raise his credibility. He also awarded Liverpool a late and dubious penalty in extra time when Rush dived at a cup tie at the Vic.
Several seasons later I was sitting next to Milfords' wife when he was again ref at a home game and the faithful gave him a really big ear bashing when he walked onto the pitch, his wife turned to me and said that he(Milford) could not understand why the Watford supporters booed every time he officiated a game against Watford. Be assured I put her straight and she never spoke to me for the rest of the game!!![/p][/quote]Well remembered ORBY, Wilf's sending off was a travesty. It's a good job Hornet's fans aren't prone to rioting like some others because Mr Milford made the atmosphere white hot that day. I'd love to know how many fans we had in the ground that day.
I love your story of Milford's wife aswell. Good on you.[/p][/quote]I was not at the game, but my understanding was Milford did not understand the rules. Neither player had done anything wrong and just got their legs tangled. Both tried to get up and got in each others way. As the mullet had booked Elliott he thought he had to even with a dismissal for both.
GT stood outside the refs rom for about half an hour after the game demanding Mullet man explain the decision and the logic. Milford failed to answer and just stayed in his room. Milford did not put anything about GT in his report as that would mean having to explain how it happened.
We no longer have P.E. and headmaster types as refs anymore, but we do have starry eyed refs like Milford who fail to ref objectively and suck up to people like Fergie to be in their good books.
It was the sucking up to Rushie that gave him a penalty and ultimately Scousers a double that season.
Mrs M you husband is a disgrace.gloryhornet4